Ethiopian Airlines is now heavily promoting its links to Southern Africa through its hub at Addis Ababa. To Johannesburg, a typical stop-over is just 2hr with a total travel time of 15hr, while for Cape Town it is 17hr 30min. Flights are generally by Boeing 777 out of Heathrow and Boeing 787 for the southbound leg. Fares are said to be competitive with the longer connecting flights via the Gulf.
The airline has introduced four weekly flights between Addis and Durban (Tuesday, Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday) but here the aircraft to the Indian Ocean city is a two-class Boeing 737. It is the airline’s third destination in South Africa after Johannesburg, daily, and Cape Town, now up to eight flights per week.
The airline says three weekly services to New York JFK will launch by the end of June via its West Africa hub, Lome (Togo). NYC will be the airline’s fourth route to the North American market in addition to its Washington DC, Los Angeles (5th Freedom 787 via Dublin) and Toronto flights. www.ethiopianairlines.com
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Kate Nathan, South Africa
ET has steadily worked itself into the no. 1 spot in Sub Sahara Africa, beyond SA and KQ. Excellent network and good performance. Pax often pleasantly surprised by great onboard service and new aircraft...They say not what they expected in Africa